Time to evaluate

So ... I've been feeling a little like a chicken with its head cut off. I couldn't really pinpoint why until today.

We have a really busy schedule all year long except for the glorious months of July and August. The boys participate in three seasons of sports: baseball, soccer and basketball (3 boys, 3 different leagues that play at 3 different times). In addition, Adam started indoor soccer this year. Indoor soccer is played from the end of October to the end of April (this makes soccer an 8 month sport after outdoor soccer is added on). We have Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts, piano, guitar, Homeschool Resource Center, and 4-H.

It sounds like a full schedule, huh?

The problem is that I've slowly added things. Jared now has Occupational Therapy and Homeschool Bowling once a week (both 25 minutes away on different days). Adam signed up for a major Merit Badge with Boy Scouts. The family is participating in International Day. AND, Adam is starting Speech Therapy next week.

The real problem, however, is that I keep pretending that we're not very busy. I keep acting like we have the same amount of time to get things done. Of course I need to evaluate our schedule to see if we can really keep this up long term. Until things change though, I need to accept that we're not going to get everything done. And that's okay. That's one of the things that makes homeschooling so wonderful. My kids are fine - they're smart and healthy and happy. They're at "grade level" or above in all their school subjects. More important, they learn amazing things in all their activities and projects. They'd learn even more if I'd embrace that learning and accept that it's just as important as doing the next chapter in history.

Learning really does happen all the time.

Dragons

This is what homeschooling looks like on a good morning.



While I was in the shower, the boys decided to gather their animals and books and read together on the couch. The cooperative together thing doesn't happen very often for my oldest and middle sons. On Sunday night, however, they watched It's A Dragon's World together. My oldest son has had a fascination with dragons for over a year and my middle son is starting to get interested too.

Now the dragon books are back out. The all time favorite and a must own book is Dr. Ernest Drake's Dragonology: The Complete Book of Dragons. Adam got this for his 10th birthday and he's read it many times since.

If you missed It's A Dragon's World, don't fret. It's on again this Saturday, March 26th.

We're breaking up

My 5 year old called me on my cell phone this afternoon. He wanted to know when I'd be home with the new memory cards for the GameCube.

We chatted for a couple of minutes until he said, "Mom, you're breaking up with me ..." Then the phone went dead.

I laughed all the way home. Cell phone service in rural America is spotty, at best, and I guess he's heard us say, "You're breaking up," too many times. I'd never break up with my best guy though.

An Irish blessing

May your troubles be less and your blessings be more
And nothing but happiness come through your door

.

Toward a new (old) philosophy

As I rethink our educational goals and my educational philosophy, I promise that you'll never hear me call myself an unschooler. It's not just that I think the term is kind of silly or that it describes what you don't do rather than what you do. The real reason is that unschoolers themselves can't really define unschooling. Besides, I'm just not the unschooling type.

I'm abandoning classical homeschooling but I'm not jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire. I'm returning to my roots - what really drew me to homeschooling. I don't have any problems with schedules or "coerced learning". I'm all for forcing my kids to do their math and grammar whether they like it or not. I just think we should follow their interests in things like history and science. I don't think they need to do TONS of writing.

My poor guinea pig, ummm oldest child, is the one who naturally suffers the most through my learning curve. Luckily, he's a pretty good student and has naturally learned about the things that interest him - things like WWII and Cowboys. He's been begging, literally begging, to do chemistry for almost a year. He hates the science program I'm making him trudge through. Last night, I promised him I'd do the research and get him a Chemistry program. We need a program or I know I'll never get around to doing it with him.

So far for the 2005-2006 school year, I know we'll do Chemistry, American History (ala Sonlight), and Singapore Math (both 6 and 2). They're happy with this plan. I'm happy with this plan. I think it's one that can work with three busy boys spread far apart. I know that both Adam and Jared can learn American History together and it will be my first attempt at teaching them anything together. I've even got plans for the youngest one as I attempt to teach him to read this fall.

Right now I feel like a giant load has been lifted off my shoulders. I think we're all going to be much happier.

I love the internet

It's been a long time since I've done any homeschool research online. I've been in my safe little rut for a few years now and I haven't ventured from my path.

Tonight I found a great resource. I still have a lot of exploring to do on this site but it looks very interesting. Check out Go Figure! The Fascinating World of Mathematics.

While the boys shovel out tomorrow, I think I'll do some online reading.

Spring is in the air

Family Matters

Sometimes you read a book and it changes the way you view the world. Othertimes you read a book and it resonates so deeply that it crystallizes the way you think.

I'm currently rereading David Guterson's Family Matters: Why Homeschooling Makes Sense. I read this book early in our homeschool adventure and I don't remember much about it. Lately, however, I've been rethinking our homeschool venture. I'm not particularly happy with the path we're on. I'm not really enamored with the "classical education" we've been striving for. More important, I don't think my children are happy.

Guterson says, "Homeschooling parents find themselves uniquely well positioned to nurture learning in the lives of children. From the moment of their child's birth they have been immersed in an evolving and intimate relationship that allows them to shape educational experiences appropriate to that child. For them it is the nature of the child that defines both content and method, and it is the response of the child to content and method that suggests to them their future choices, new alternatives, other strategies."

Since reading The Well Trained Mind, I have set our educational chart according to the book. Of course, I've tried to choose materials that are best suited to each child. I was quick to abandon the reading program I'd used quite successfully with Adam for a much different one for Jared. I've adapted our math materials to accomodate Jared's fine motor abilities. Still, I hate the feeling that we're somehow "behind". That if we don't follow a 4 year chronological history cycle we're failing.

I missed a huge window of opportunity this past year as my oldest son showed an enormous interest in WWII. Oh, I bought him books and taped shows off the History Channel. But I still made him trudge through the history cycle that we were supposed to be doing according to TWTM. As I look back I realize that I could have abandoned Middle Ages and really pursued WWII with Adam. What would we have lost? Instead, he worked his way through our history lessons without much enthusiasm and spent his nights reading about WWII.

Jared has no interest in either Ancient or Medieval history. I can't myself reading SOTW to him right now. He's always been my most challenging child and I feel like I need to rise to the challenge now. I need to find the things that Jared is interested in and pursue those things with him. I need to find ways to make Jared enjoy learning. I need to let the "nature of the child define the content and method".

A little late

I found this at Lynn's blog and though it's a week late, I thought I'd post it here.

A little diversion

1. Grab the nearest book
2. Open the book to page 123
3. Find the fifth sentence
4. Post the text of the next 3 sentences on your blog, along with these instructions.
5. Don't you dare dig for that "cool" or "intellectual" book in your closet! I know you were thinking about it. Just grab what is closest!

***********************************************************

Hmmmm ... first problem - my book doesn't have a page 123. I'll go to page 126 instead. I think the intent of the law is more important than the rule.

Here we go...

Still, to hear her tell you the storeis of the food, the family, the good times, you would think her a princess of great privelege.

Think about the most creative people you've ever met. It's a good bet that many of them came from poor or lower-middle class backgrounds.

I'm working on habits. Trying to get back into the habit of going to the gym. Trying to get the boys going on schoolwork again after a two week vacation. Trying to blog again. The best way to form a habit is to just do something over and over again. Even when you don't feel like it. In the case of blogging - even when I don't feel I have much to say.

Getting comments from someone new who found me through a google search got me inspired to write this morning.

I've been rethinking my educational philosophy lately. Having three boys always makes me rethink things. I try not to compare them but some obvious things really jump out at me. Things that worked well for Adam just don't work well for Jared. I'm not trying to make Jared fit into Adam's hole but I haven't found the right hole for Jared yet and, truth be told, I haven't been trying very hard.

Before Jared left for Florida, I packed some things into his backpack which would go onto the airplane with him and Jeff. I packed the Redwall (Redwall) book that Jeff is reading to Jared, the Tales from the Odyssey: Sirens and Sea Monsters - Book #3that Jared is reading to Jeff, and a Brain Quest : Grade 1 deck. When Jared saw the Brain Quest deck he wanted to play for a little while. I was shocked at the things he knew and my shock was apparent. "How do you know that?" I asked him after he surprised me with another correct answer. "I pay attention," he stated. Ah. Lightbulb.

Because of his fine motor delay, Jared can't just be given a grammar workbook or a math workbook to work in. Because of his personality, I can't force him to do math or grammar with me orally. I'm at a stalemate. I have a few things I'm going to try to see if they work. I'm beginning to get the feeling that any formal lessons with Jared will backfire but I'm going to try a few things first.

I'll let you know how things go.

They're coming home ...

One week ago my boys left for Florida. My husband and middle son flew to visit his parents in Vero Beach and my oldest son flew to Tampa to visit my mom. It was strange seeing them all off. It left just me and my youngest son, Eric, home alone for an entire week.

I know it would make me sound like a good person and mother to write about how I missed them terribly. The truth of the matter, however, is that I didn't really miss them very much. I missed my husband - especially when it snowed 3 times and I had to shovel our very long driveway on my own because I don't know how to use the snow blower. I spoke to them almost every day and they were all having a wonderful time. I just couldn't help but thinking that I was having an even better time.

My youngest is an easy child and he really soaks up the alone time with mom. We had plans for many of the days - a dinner and movie playdate, a 40th birthday party I threw for a friend, a visit from a girlfriend and her new baby. We also spent many glorious hours at home. Alone. In the quiet.

I love my boys and I feel very privileged to be home with them. I don't tend to romanticize motherhood though. You'll rarely hear my complain because I know that I have it better than most. Still, motherhood is a tiring profession. It's the never endingness that gets to me. The laundry that is never finished, the meals that must be cooked every single day ... It gets a little old.

The best part about being home alone with Eric is that I had almost no laundry or dishes. I only cooked when I wanted to (like the wonderful calzones I made for the party) - we ordered take out or ate simple things the rest of the time. The house never got messy. There was nowhere I had to be - no kids to drive to lessons or appointments. There were no fights to break up. The house was quiet and peaceful.

I'm glad the boys are coming home. I really am. I feel so rested after my week off. I'll be ready to jump right back into that motherhood thing.